The New Jumanji Is A Game-Changer

December 19th, 2017

What scared you most about the original Jumanji movie? Was it the idea of being zapped into smoke and sucked into a board game and an adventure you couldn't handle? Was it the fearsome lion slinking out of the dark, flitting its tail menacingly over piano keys? Was it the mustachioed hunter, hellbent on obliterating Robin Williams, that got you all shook up? Whichever aspect gave you chills, it's safe to say that no other kids' movie was as demented or uniquely terrifying as Jumanji. And that's why we all loved it.

Now, 22 years after the original movie, Sony Pictures is taking us back inside the game — but this time, our protagonists are in for a very different ride. In this sequel, Jumanji is a video game, and there's a Dwayne Johnson avatar trapped inside it. The movie's called Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and — as Guns N' Roses sings — it's got fun and games.

If you've been patiently waiting in the jungle for someone to roll a five or eight (a.k.a. for the first feature-length trailer to drop), your moment has come. Here's the trailer in all its jungle-raging, bicep-flexing, rhino-smashing glory. Check it out:

Intended as a sequel rather than a reboot, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is a continuation of the story started by Robin Williams and crew over 20 years ago. This time, four kids in detention are sucked into a video game, and take on the form of avatars within the Jumanji world — avatars portrayed by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.

And yes, one of the kids is nicknamed Fridge. Make of that what you will.

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle will role into theaters December 20, 2017.